Maccabi Tel Aviv continues Israel Premier League Ligat Japanika action this evening when they visit Maccabi Netanya on Matchday 4 at the Netanya Stadium (20:30). On Wednesday September 26th the Yellow & Blue will face Maccabi Haifa in the Toto Cup Final and the following Monday Hapoel Tel Aviv will be the opponent in the first league derby of the season.

Vladimir Ivic’s squad enters the match in 1st place after defeating Hapoel Raanana 4:1 last week while they won their season opener against Maccabi Haifa and drew at Hapoel Beer Sheva.

Maccabi Netanya have one point to date and are in last place. On Matchday 1 they fell at Hapoel Haifa 5:0 while the following week they drew 1:1 against Bnei Sakhnin. Last week Kiryat Shemona defeated Slobodan Drapic and Shay Barda’s side 1:0. The Diamond City side lost the services of Dia Saba who moved to Beer Sheva but brought on board Guy Melamed, Moti Barshatzky and Stav Finish.

Last season, the Yellow & Blue also met Maccabi Netanya on Matchday 4 and picked up a 3:2 win. Over the course of the season the team’s faced each other 3 more times in league play as the Yellow & Blue won twice and fell once.

Head Coach Vladimir Ivic spoke ahead of the contest at the prematch press conference: “I’m happy we have a lot of games to play ahead of us.” As he referred to the upcoming matches against Netanya, Haifa and Hapoel Tel Aviv.

He also talked about the keys to victory: “We prepare for every game and we have the same goal which is to take 3 points. We must fight, concentrate and be ready to improve and to take responsibility during the games and have possession in order to win the game. Netanya has played well over the past couple of seasons and even though they changed some players, they are still a good team and we have to be prepared from the first to the last second of the game.”

Veteran midfielder Eyal Golasa also looked ahead to the contest: “We are preparing well and we expect a tough game on Saturday. Netanya is always a hard matchup, but we know how to get ready for them.”

Competing for a place in the Starting XI:
“It’s a great thing that there is competition and it brings out the best in us as we fight for a spot in the starting XI.”

Changes at Netanya:
“Netanya is going through some changes and even when they were without Eran Levy and Dia Saba last season they were a good team. They are always competitive no matter who is playing for them.”